KUALA LUMPUR: The government plans to provide 1,000 Malaysian Family Digital Economy Centres (PEDi) throughout the country by the end of next year, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

Apart from this, the existing 600 to 800 PEDi throughout the country would be upgraded, he said in RTM's Selamat Pagi Malaysia @ Ketereh, Kelantan programme entitled "Ikhtiar Keluarga Malaysia - Bersama Pemimpin Menyantuni Rakyat" today.

PEDi, rebranded from existing community internet centres, is expected to be launched in early November in Bera, Pahang.

"Then we will build new ones (PEDi) throughout the country in areas which do not have the facility yet, but the most important thing is content. (For example) this afternoon I'm launching #SayaDigital which will feature experts in e-commerce.

"This is to give an early introduction to ordinary kampung folks, single mothers, those staying at home, petty traders, hawkers or even to enable youths to use the broadband facility to increase their income," he said.

Annuar said that while previously the broadband network was only used for communication, the facility was now made available by the government to transform lives, including increasing people's income through online marketing of village products.

"Skills, branding, packaging, quality assurance, making delivery, this is the kind of training we want to give so that it can be a way of earning a living, an avenue for generating income.

"This is what we want to focus on throughout the country including in Sabah and Sarawak, with big programmes beginning with #SayaDigital," he added.

Meanwhile, Annuar said a good education could change lives, and therefore it was important to help B40 students through the extension of data aid, gadgets and other internet-related learning facilities with the participation of private companies.

Annuar he had always given priority to education because he had benefited from it to become a professional town planner before going into politics.

"So if we want to help someone from the kampung, maybe it's difficult to achieve output mobility, vertical mobility ... it's rewarding to pay attention to helping in their children's education," he said.

-- BERNAMA